StrangeSights

• Mr Burns attracted the ire of Springfield’s citizens when he blocked out the sun in The Simpsons. But now come reports of a plan to use artificially created “clouds” to do the same in Qatar, not to extort its citizens for money as was the case with Mr Burns, but to try and keep the ground temperature down during the World Cup in 2022. The mechanical clouds would hover above the stadium in an attempt to deflect some of the sun’s strength during games.

• He’s a real-life transformer. Californian Drew Beaumier - apparently an ardent fan of Transformers when a child - has created a costume, using parts of a children’s toy, that enables him to ‘transform’ into an car. He’s now reportedly hoping to develop the costume to make it available for purchase by mail order.

• As audiences go, it was probably one of the more passive ones. The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra played to an auditorium filled with potted plants in London this week in an experiment commissioned by TV shopping channel QVC to test the theory that plants grow better when played classical music. The three hour concert apparently included Mozart’s Symphony Number 40.